FEBRUARY 23RD
EXPLOSIVE EXERCISE FOR STRENGTH, SIZE AND PERFORMANCE
I once remember being a knowledge-thirsty young university student and avid lifter; I would read everything I could get my hands on regarding training, nutrition, supplements… basically anything that would help me get stronger.
One thing stuck with me and it came from Louie Simmons. He said: ‘‘Bring me someone fast (or explosive) and I can make him strong’’.
To me, this short sentence sums up pretty well what I consider to be the real secret of successful training: explosiveness, the capacity to generate acceleration, is the key!
When I look back at my career as a strength coach; working with many pro hockey players, some pro football players and amateur athletes from 28 different sports including many junior and senior national champions and some Olympic athletes, I realize that I have encountered a myriad of examples that supported what Louie said.
In most cases, the athletes who are the most explosive are those who gain strength at the fastest rate when properly trained.
And my travel to the bodybuilding side of things have showed something similar in that the bodybuilders that come from a background of speed and power sports are those who generally build the most muscle.
From my experience in the trenches I have come to believe that the capacity to be explosive is they key that unlocks your potential for rapid strength and size gains.
I have experienced it myself. For most of my training life I trained either for football (8 years) or Olympic lifting (6 years). In both cases my trained was centered around explosive movements. Either in the form of the Olympic lifts themselves or various forms of jumps, throws and sprints.
When I was competing in Olympic lifting, I would routinely take 2-3 months away from the lifts and focus more on bodybuilding-type stuff to give my body a break (and because I still wanted to improve the way I looked…girls dig big guns). In those 2-3 months I would make more rapid gains in size than most ‘‘bodybuilders’’ would in 6.
Same thing happened with the hockey players I trained. They basically play hockey 6-8 months out of the year then have anywhere from 8 to 16 weeks to train to get ready for the next season. In those 8 to 16 weeks they would gain more muscle than many guys do in a year or more, and they were not even training for size!
Look at gymnasts and sprinters: most are very muscular and strong despite not training for it. Yeah the hours of athletic training do play a role in that, but to me the real secret is that those guys are motor geniuses when it comes to producing a high level of acceleration. It might be genetic, an acquired trait due to their training, or a combination of both. But the fact still remains: if you are explosive you will build muscle more easily than those who aren’t.
True, these athletes are often genetically gifted in the fast twitch muscle fiber ratio department. But it is my belief that with proper training, even someone with an average (or even somewhat slow-twitch dominant) fiber profile can take on a more fast-twitch profile. The Eastern European sport scientist Tiyhani has demonstrated this to be true.
With years of coaching and training I came to conclusion that you can compensate a lousy genetic hand delt to you by working on your explosiveness, which will improve the nervous system capacity to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibers.
And the more efficient you are at recruiting those, the more you’ll grow and the stronger you’ll get.
In fact I strongly believe that when someone has a lagging muscle group the main reason why it’s lagging (provided that it is being trained like the other muscle groups) is that your nervous system is not efficient at optimally recruiting the fast twitch fibers within that muscle.
Don’t forget that recruiting a muscle and especially its high-threshold motor units (FT fibers) is not merely a physical action: it is a motor skill.
To be able to maximally stimulate a muscle group you must be able to recruit its high threshold motor units. If you are not good at it naturally, or if you haven’t hit the fast-twitch jackpot when you were in your mother’s womb, you must practice it!
Frequency of specific practice is the cornerstone of motor skill acquisition and mastery.
Ok, to recap what we have so far:
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Individuals who are more explosive are more efficient at optimally recruiting and using the fast-twitch fibers.
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The more efficient you are at recruiting and stimulating the fast-twitch fibers the more growth and strength you can stimulate.
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Motor unit recruitment and coordination is a motor skill.
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Frequency of specific practice is how you improve a motor skill.
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To become better at recruiting the money muscle fibers you must practice recruiting them, and this requires utilizing techniques that emphasize those fibers.
Yes heavy lifting will recruit the fast twitch fibers. So getting stronger is obviously a way to work on that skill (and get bigger). However heavy lifting can be a catch 22 situation: someone who can’t efficiently recruit its high threshold motor units will not be able to produce strength up to his potential.
As a result heavy lifting will not stimulate the FT fibers optimally because they can’t get into play as much as needed to get the full training effect.
Heavy lifting is a great method to build strength and size when someone is explosive, because he is already skilled at recruiting the money muscle fibers.
But someone who can’t produce acceleration if his life depended on it will not reap the full benefits from heavy lifting until he develops the capacity to be explosive.
This is why focusing on ways to improve your explosiveness if it’s lagging will allow you to greatly improve your capacity to build strength and size in the near future.
And yes, explosiveness can be trained. When I was in college I was far from being fast, powerful or agile. I ran a 4.9 forty and had a 28’’ vertical.
After my Olympic lifting career was over I was looking for a new challenge and wanted to tryout for bobsleigh (I never did, but that’s not the point). My mentor timed me on the 40 with a Speed Trap II electric timer at 4.54. It is generally accepted that electric times are roughly 0.150 - 0.240s slower than hand timed sprints. So it’s not far fetched to assume roughly a 4.4 forty which would be a 0.5s improvement without any realy running training (over a period of 5 years, but still).
My vertical was also measured (using a force plate and a measuring device attached to my waist, so no possible cheating) at 39’‘. On 5’8’’ I was able to dunk a volleyball (cannot palm a full size basketball) from a standing start.
So yes, with proper training, explosiveness can be trained, even in the non-explosive individuals.
So how do you train explosiveness? There are several options. Here is a progression scale ranging from the ‘‘entry level’’ to the ‘‘highest level’’ explosive work.
Level 1 - Basic bilateral jumps (vertical jumping, broad jumping, jumping onto a box), throws (medicine ball throws from various positions) and sprints.
Level 2 - Unilateral jumps, hops and bounding
Level 3 - Weight lifting exercises trying to accelerate the weight as much as possible
Level 4 - Shock training or ‘‘real’’ plyometrics (depth jumps, depth push ups)
Level 5 - Ballistic exercises with a significant load (15-30% of the related lift); jumps squats, jumps lunges, bench throws, etc. Could even be medicine ball throws if the ball is heavy enough.
Level 6 - Variations of the Olympic lifts; weight lifting exercises for maximum acceleration with added band resistance
The mistake most people make, and the reason why they fail at significantly altering their explosiveness profile, is that they use a method above their current level of capacity.
I love the Olympic lifts, but if someone isn’t even able to accelerate the bar in a squat or another basic barbell lift, it makes little sense to use these movements as the cornerstone of explosiveness improvement.
Someone who is already fairly explosive (normally those with a solid athletic background) might be able to start at level 3 (even though level 1 and 2 exercises will still beneficial) while someone who is as explosive as a snail will likely need to focus on getting good at level 1 and level 2 movements before trying to improve explosiveness via more advanced means.
Remember: producing explosiveness is a motor skill; to learn that skill properly you must do the work in an optimal way. And there is no way to be optimal if you are using a method that outside of your current level.
I know how most of you feel; I’ve been there (still am to some extent). Improving your body (either its appearance or its capacity) is an emotional issue. We want results, and we want them yesterday.
In our desire to get the desired gains as soon as possible we will always tend to resort to the most advanced methods right off the bat. But remember that more advanced doesnâ??t equate more effective. The most effective method will be the one suited to your level of development.
See getting explosive as progressing through the school system: before going to college you must first finish high school. Before getting your masters degree you must first get your B.Sc., etc.
For some it might take more time to get there. But if you try to skip steps, you will never get where you want to go.
Getting back to heavy lifting. I feel that heavy lifting (in the 85%+ range) will not be optimally beneficial until you have reached mastery in the level 3 method.
In other words, to be ready to reap the most benefit out of very heavy lifting, you must first have the capacity to produce a high level of acceleration with loads ranging from 40 to roughly 65-70% of your maximum.
And by ‘‘high level of acceleration’’ understand that I do not mean bouncing, cheating and using bad form. The form must be textbook and the acceleration must be produced by utilizing the prime movers and synergist muscles themselves, not some unrelated muscle group.
So we’re back to square one: ''Bring me someone explosive and I can make him strong (or big)…